


Raising Denzel

by TipsyArmadillo



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: Gen, Sinister Stepdad Sephiroth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:35:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23730934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TipsyArmadillo/pseuds/TipsyArmadillo
Summary: Denzel has a mission: protect Cloud Strife at all cost. Sephiroth can help.
Relationships: Sephiroth/Cloud Strife
Comments: 17
Kudos: 237





	Raising Denzel

**Author's Note:**

> What even is this?
> 
> I played Final Fantasy 7: Remake then watched Advent Children (complete edition!) and decided I need some sinister Stepdad Sephiroth in my life because Remake Sephiroth just seems like that kinda guy.

As long back as Denzel could remember he had been aware of Sephiroth, even if he didn't yet know his name.

Though his memories before living with Cloud were fuzzy at best, from almost the moment he came to live with his new guardian he knew they weren't alone.

He wasn't scared though.

For a lonely little boy who had only bad memories and a caring but distant caretaker in Cloud Strife to keep him company the strange specter was almost welcome. Sephiroth never paid any attention to him when he appeared in their house, coming in and out of reality like a ghost, he only had eyes for Cloud, but that was ok.

Denzel made it a game, following the swish of a black coat as it disappeared around a corner, playing the hero and protecting Cloud from the bad dreams and hallucinations the man's presence would set off. Poor Cloud. He hated the ghost man and would sometimes talk to him in a low voice when he thought Denzel wasn't around. So Denzel made it his mission to defeat the ghost man.

He got himself a strong stick and hid it under his bed and the next time Cloud started twitching and whimpering in his sleep Denzel grabbed the stick and stood on his bed, gathering every bit of courage he had he took a leap off the bed, pulling the stick high over his head and bringing it down, straight through the shadow at the side of Clouds bed.

Bright green eyes turned on him for the first time and Denzel froze as the man turned and disappeared in the same motion and Cloud came awake with a cry of alarm, hand reaching for his sword before he realized it was only Denzel.

With a shaking breath Cloud pulled his hand away from his sword. "You shouldn't surprise me, you could have been hurt," he chided softly.

Denzel rolled his eyes. Cloud wouldn't hurt him.

"I was protecting you," he said, revealing his mission for the first time.

Clouds lips twitched slightly. Denzel used to have a hard time knowing what Cloud was thinking, for an adult he was really quiet and didn't have many expressions but Denzel had gotten really good at knowing what Cloud was thinking and he knew the man was amused.

"Protecting me?"

Denzel nodded eagerly and held up his stick. "From the ghost man."

The amusement fell from Clouds face, his eyes widened minutely. "Ghost man?"

"The one who gives you nightmares. You don't have to worry anymore. I'll protect you."

*

Cloud tried to send him to live with Tifa but Denzel would run away during the night, slipping out of the window and using his key to sneak back into his home. Cloud didn't like that and immediately took him back and changed the lock.

Denzel would still run away but now he stood outside and made so much noise the man was forced to let him in when the neighbors began to turn on their lights and peek outside. Every morning Cloud would take him back to Tifas but Denzel was there to protect him during the night and that was all that mattered.

Eventually Cloud gave up, with a sigh of exasperation he opened the door one night after Denzel had started his usual protest and gestured him in. The lights were on and it was obvious Cloud hadn't slept well in a while but when Denzel entered he didn't immediately go to bed, instead he brought Denzel to the small kitchen and sat him down at their little table.

"Denzel, you can't stay here."

"But I have to protect you," Denzel insisted.

Cloud shook his head. "No. I'm the adult. I protect you."

Denzel raised his chin stubbornly. "I'm not scared of the ghost man and you're all alone, you can't protect yourself when you're asleep. I'm staying and you can't stop me."

With a sigh Cloud said, "I'm going to leave Edge."

"No!" Cloud couldn't do that to him. Denzel couldn't lose the man who was his whole world.

"Tifas going to look after you," Cloud said over Denzels loud protests.

"You can't," he screamed. "You can't! I'll run away and follow you."

"Denzel," was Clouds sharp rebuke.

"No," Denzel yelled, standing. "You can't leave me." Cloud tried to speak but was interrupted when the boy burst into tears, loudly sobbing as Cloud sat, wide eyed and paralyzed as little fists began to hit him. "You can't leave, I won't let you."

Cloud let himself be hit, the blows doing nothing to hurt him but his chest was tight with an emotion he couldn't even begin to understand. He wanted to comfort the child but he didn't know how so he waited until Denzel had tired himself out before gathering the thin body up in his arms and holding him gently, too afraid of his own strength to squeeze the boy the way he wanted to. Denzel sniffled into his chest and Clouds chin rested on his mop of messy brown hair.

"Please don't leave," Denzel pleaded and Cloud found he wasn't strong enough to do the right thing.

Denzel moved back in with Cloud.

The ghost man was an ever present specter in their lives, a shadow that lurked in the corner of their eyes and in the nightmares that continued to plague Cloud. Denzel stepped up his efforts to protect his guardian, often staying awake long after Cloud had fallen asleep, waiting for the shadow to appear.

It was nearly a month after he moved back in that something changed.

Cloud slept peacefully that night and Denzel ended up falling asleep earlier than usual only to be woken in the middle of the night to a strange feeling of being watched. For all his bravado Denzel had only had the full attention of the ghost man once and it had only been for a second. He could feel the man watching him but didn't dare open his eyes, curling up under his covers until he fell into an uneasy sleep.

The observation continued night after night but Denzel didn't dare tell Cloud whose shadowed eyes seemed lighter and who didn't seem as jumpy as usual. Eventually he got used to the feeling of being watched in his sleep and it began to seem almost normal to feel a presence behind him when he played, to feel a brush of hair on his cheek or to find a black feather on the floor that would vanish into smoke when he tried to grab it.

Things changed one night, unexpectedly.

Denzel woke to the feeling of being watched and sleepily opened his eyes to find himself face to face with the ghost man. He lay there, strangely relaxed as he took in the strange slitted pupils and silver hair and the ghost man did the same, observing him with a content sort of amusement.

"You care for him," the man said softly.

Denzel nodded.

"Hm."

From one blink to the next the man disappeared and Denzel eventually closed his eyes and fell asleep. From that moment on the man moved from the corners of his eye to fully visible, watching Denzel who was quick to accept this new development.

The man was a little boring but Denzel was good at making up games to play and the ghost man was often at the receiving end of Denzels stick sword as he pretended to fight the ghost man, pretending the man was an evil Shinra soldier who he had to defeat. One day a sword appeared in the man's hand, longer than any sword he had seen before, and countered Denzels stick, the shock of sudden physical contact traveling up his arm as the stick flew into the air.

The sword gleamed in the daylight and it was the coolest thing Denzel had ever seen. The man regarded him before gesturing to the stick, fallen beside Denzels foot, with his chin. Without hesitation Denzel picked up the stick and faced his foe. The man stood, sword held up over his shoulder, body turned to the side, and Denzel mimicked the pose.

The man's lips quirked up into a smile and he lunged.

Denzel yelped and fell on his behind.

The man disappeared and Denzel was left panting in fear, limbs trembling.

*

That night he sat with Cloud over dinner and asked a question. "Can you teach me to fight," he asked.

Cloud paused and asked, "Why do you want to fight?"

"So I can protect you."

Mako green eyes widened and Cloud looked almost embarrassed. "I don't need to be protected."

"Yes you do, Tifa said you need someone to look out for you, I heard her tell you so. I'll look out for you but I can't do that if I'm weak. I need to get stronger," he declared earnestly.

Clouds eyes lowered and he mumbled, "Alright."

*

His training with Cloud began soon after and Cloud presented him with a wooden sword, an object that quickly became Denzels prized possession, and began teaching him.

It turned out Cloud wasn't a very good teacher.

He could fight but couldn't break down how he did it. Moreover his fighting style was well beyond what a new student could easily emulate and he couldn't remember what the basics were. Cloud hadn't learned swordplay, he just knew it and his memory didn't hold any sort of instructions on how to teach it to a beginner.

Denzel could see Clouds frustration with himself as he tried and failed to teach his young student but Denzel was determined to not let that set him back.

If Cloud couldn't teach him he knew who could.

*

The ghost man watched Denzel holding his wooden sword, challenging him.

"Teach me, ghost," the child demanded. "I want to know how to fight like you do?"

The man spoke for only the second time. "To protect Cloud?"

Denzel nodded.

The man smirked. "Very well."

As it turned out the ghost man was a very good teacher, mostly because Denzel wasn't constrained to his waking hours to train. He trained in real life and he trained in his dreams, the ghost man was relentless in his tutelage, expecting nothing less than perfection from his student and when he didn't get perfection he punished his student with the blunt end of his sword and sharp words, accusing him of weakness and taunting him that his weakness would be the cause of his guardians death.

The man could be cruel, Denzel discovered, but not unreasonable. He pushed him hard but never truly pushed Denzel past his limits despite his enjoyment of delivering painful blows and driving him to near exhaustion.

It was the happiest time in Denzels life.

His quiet but thoughtful guardian and his demanding but attentive teacher both filling a void in him that had existed since his parents had died and as the months passed the fear of abandonment and his need to cling tight to Cloud for fear of him slipping away slowly eased.

He knew his life wasn't normal but normal had let him down before, he was perfectly happy with his abnormal life.

*

Happiness couldn't last. Logically Denzel knew that Cloud and the ghost man had something bad between them, his whole mission had begun by protecting Cloud from the ghost man, but he was still a child and didn't know who Sephiroth was and foolishly he came to Cloud one day, desperate to show his guardian what he had learned.

"What is it," Cloud asked as Denzel held his hand and dragged him outside.

"I want to show you my new technique."

"Technique?"

Denzel picked up his wooden sword and took his stance. "Ok come at me," he demanded. Cloud stared at Denzel, wide eyed but took his sword in hand and faced the boy who wasted no time coming at Cloud with a terrifyingly familiar pattern of strikes that Cloud easily blocked despite memories of a familiar figure behind those same strikes making him falter. When he was done Denzel grinned proudly. "See, I'm getting strong."

Cloud lowered his sword. "Someone is training you."

Denzels looked guilty. "I'm training myself," he said. An obvious lie.

Kneeling down, Cloud put his hands on Denzels shoulders and the boy squirmed, the lie weighing heavily on him. "Denzel."

He couldn't lie, not to Cloud. "The ghost man."

"Sephiroth?" Cloud asked, a desperation in his voice that shook Denzel. "A man with silver hair and Mako eyes?" Denzel nodded and Clouds fingers dug painfully into his shoulders. "Denzel, you've been speaking with Sephiroth?"

"He trains me," Denzel cried out, squirming away from the painful grip. "So I can be strong to protect you."

"No, Denzel, he's tricking you. You have to leave. Now."

Cloud stood and began to drag Denzel back into the house and the boy was starting to become scared, scared of Cloud who had a wild look in his eyes Denzel had never seen before. He tugged on his hand, trying to get free when Cloud abruptly stopped.

The ghost man, Sephiroth, stood before them, a strange taunting smirk on his lips.

"Cloud," he greeted.

"Sephiroth," Cloud spat out, more aggression and emotion in his voice than Denzel had ever heard. "Leave Denzel alone. He has nothing to do with this!"

"Oh? On the contrary, he has everything to do with this. There is nothing of yours that isn't mine. You know this."

"He's a child."

The pleading statement did nothing to move the silver haired man. "Your child." He stepped closer, eyeing Denzel. "He sees your weakness and wants to protect you." His catlike eyes seemed to glow with approval. "Admirable traits for one of his race. Perhaps he will join us one day, molded by the sons of Jenova, inheriting our legacy."

Denzel couldn't understand what they were talking about but he recognized the fear in Clouds eyes, could feel him trembling and knew he had to be the one to save him. Denzel stepped in front of Cloud, wooden sword held at the ready. "Leave him alone." Sephiroths eyes gleamed in delight as he vanished.

Denzel lowered his sword, a feeling of triumph thrumming through his veins.

*

Cloud tried again to kick Denzel out but emboldened by his victory the boy refused to leave.

Then one day he woke up and Cloud was gone.

Denzel waited for days until it became obvious Cloud wasn't coming back. He should have gone to Tifas. He knew what the world was like for a kid who had no one, but he knew if he went to Tifa that would be it. He would lose Cloud forever and that was something he couldn't do. He made a promise to protect Cloud and he couldn't abandon that promise when things got tough.

He knew to everyone he was just a foolish little boy, nobody would take his promise seriously, they would take him to Tifa and that would be the end of it. There was only one person he knew could help, who understood.

Sephiroth listened and considered.

"A child cannot make this journey."

"I have to," Denzel insisted. "You don't understand. Cloud needs me. He thinks he can do everything on his own, that he doesn't need people but he's wrong. I have to bring him back."

The gleam of approval was back and Sephiroth knelt until he was eye level with Denzel. "You'll have to become stronger. A human child cannot save Cloud from himself."

"What do I need to do?"

*

The ruins of old Midgar were infested with monsters but for some reason they all stayed away as Sephiroth led him through the decaying rubble. Some of the buildings looked strange, like someone had picked them up and thrown them around but he didn't think too much of it, too focused on not falling down the steep edges of the rubble.

By the time they reached a deep crevice between two buildings Denzel was sweating but he still had to make the journey into the crevice and retrieve the thing Sephiroth said would make him strong.

At the bottom of the crevice was … a head.

Denzel picked it up and took it to the surface where Sephiroth was waiting.

*

When Cloud learned what Sephiroth had done he howled and raged and their fight shook the earth but when it was over Cloud fell to his knees and wept. Sephiroth stood by Clouds side, unsympathetic to his weaker counterparts dilemma.

Denzel found them eventually and when Cloud saw the boys slitted pupils he dragged Denzel close and hugged him. The boy accepted Clouds affection and returned it, happy to be reunited.

"It's ok, Cloud," Denzel reassured him. "I'm stronger now. Sephiroth said one day I'll be as strong as you, then I can keep my promise. I'll always protect you."

Cloud stood, looking into the otherworldly eyes and knew he should destroy this child. He had seen what a child raised under the influence of Jenova could become but he just couldn't. This was still Denzel even if the child was whispering in his mind and triggering his own Jenova cells to reach out, desiring to become one with Denzel and Sephiroth, to begin their journey through the cosmos together.

He was weak.

"You are weak but we are not," Sephiroth said. He looked to Denzel. "Shall we both do our best to protect your foolish father?"

Denzel nodded and turned his shining childish eyes to Cloud. "Can we go home now?"

Cloud knew he had lost, in that moment he saw the future laid out as if he had already lived it and he wanted to weep again for this planet and its inhabitants, for what Denzel might have been had he not met Cloud. He didn't though, he made his choice and tears wouldn't fix anything.

Instead he held out his hand and grasped Denzels. The boy took it eagerly and together they set off back home, the shadow of a one winged angel guiding their path.

**Author's Note:**

> And the Jenova family goes on to destroy the planet, become gods and use the planet as their spaceship and they live happily ever after and also Cloud and Sephiroth probably fuck a lot.


End file.
